Cottage Inn

What is the Cottage Inn restaurant?Comfort food is the staple of choice at Cottage Inn. This Louisville restaurant has been serving up savory southern classics since 1929. If you are in the mood for hearty fare at an affordable price, Cottage Inn may be just the ticket. If you are counting calories, you may want to skip this stop.

Pros of the Cottage Inn

Affordable and hearty mealsFriendly staffDaily lunch specials are $6.99Daily entrée specials are $7.99 (except Wednesday’s all-you-care-to-eat fried chicken which is priced at $10.99)Good for all agesSouthern style comfort foodFamily restaurant, no alcohol is served

Cons of the Cottage Inn

Dining room is small, there is a wait on busy nightsFried food (which is a lot of it) can be over-friedQuality of meals can be inconsistent

Description

Price Range: Meals are $10 or less per personAccepts credit cardsCasual atmosphere

Review of the Cottage Inn

On Eastern Parkway, just east of University of Louisville and west of Squallis Puppeteers, is a cozy little house that has been home to the Cottage Inn since 1929. The owners have changed over the years, but the restaurant remains a no-frills spot serving up satisfying comfort food.

If you show up and tables are free, seat yourself. Each table is topped with a vinyl green tablecloth and silverware rolled in paper napkins. A bottle of ketchup stands at the ready along with salt and pepper shakers. The style of the room is a family restaurant version of diner eating. Servers are friendly and attentive, quick to get a round of drinks for everyone.

Choose from soda pop to lemonade and from sweet tea to a cup of coffee.

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With a sign in front advertising the best fried chicken and the best chicken livers in town, my friend and I decided to take them up on the challenge. We ordered one of each, the fried chicken is $7.99 and the chicken livers with sautéed onions is $8.99, and each meal comes with two sides.

For the chicken livers we choose cabbage and mashed potatoes (your pick of white or brown gravy) and for the fried chicken we opted for a side salad and a baked potato.

The salad arrived first, iceberg lettuce with a wedge of tomato. No surprise, Cottage Inn feels like it missed the baby greens movement and has remained true to the home cooked dinners of retro kitchen tables. But once the entrees arrived, the fried chicken didn’t disappoint. Crisp, but not overly breaded, with juicy meat within, the chicken stood up to it’s “best in town” label. The baked potato was classic and filling, served with more sour cream than needed.

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The chicken livers, on the other hand, were overdone and as a result too dry. The flavor was good but the cooking timing was off. The side dish of the day, cabbage, was tasty. Sweet and tangy flavors were stewed into the leafy mainstay. Both meals were filling enough without bread, yet the livers were served with a corn bread muffin and the fried chicken with a biscuit. We didn’t need them, but they were delicious in a high-calorie 1950s supper way, and we managed to eat them, too.

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Cottage Inn has an eclectic clientele with older couples, young families and children happily munching under one roof.

Kids meals, for those 12 and younger, are $3.99 and served with one side dish and a beverage. The younger set can choose from spaghetti, chicken tenders, grilled cheese and burgers.

There are also sandwiches, such as a double club, tuna salad or Hot Browns, along with appetizers such as fried okra, onion rings, mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers. Yet the entrees, in particular the daily specials, seem to be a go-to selection for many customers. If you are craving dinner, but something other than chicken, the Inn also dishes up turkey, roast beef, meatloaf and baked fish. I’ve heard on Wednesdays, when all-you-care-to-eat fried chicken is $10.99, the place is packed.

For desert, there is pound cake, carrot cake, cobbler and more. When I was there the coconut cake looked divine, unfortunately I was too full to try a slice.

Next time, I’ll save room.

Our bill, for two chicken dinners and two ice teas, was just over $20, not including tip. For a delicious hearty meal, the price is sure to please.